In the Belly of the Bloodhound by Louis A. Meyer

Author:Louis A. Meyer [Meyer, Louis A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General, Historical, Kidnapping, Juvenile Fiction, Action & Adventure, Social Issues, Family, 19th century, United States, Friendship, Transportation, Ships & Shipbuilding, Girls & Women, Orphans, Sea Stories, Orphans & Foster Homes, Law & Crime, Seafaring life
ISBN: 9780152061661
Publisher: Graphia
Published: 2008-04-08T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 27

James Fletcher

The Pig and Whistle

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

June 3, 1806

Miss Jacky Faber

Somewhere in the World, God Willing

My Dearest Jacky,

Once again I write letters to a phantom. While I despair of ever seeing you again, I rejoice in the possibility that you might still be alive. I shall recount the events since last I wrote in the faint but fervent hope that someday you might read these lines.

The attempts to clear your name did not go well—the Admiralty remains obstinate in their demands for your return to their custody and I have washed my hands of the whole affair. So be it, I declared, if she and I have to spend our lives in the outer reaches of the world, then that is how it will be. I am sure the Colonies have their charms.

I booked passage for New York the next day, choosing that port instead of Boston in case Admiralty Intelligence was keeping an eye on me and my travels, the better to find you. My father and brother came down to the pier to see me off, and many tears were shed, for we assumed that I might never come back that way again. My mother, also, came down that day, but I sent word that I would not receive her. So from where I stood, I observed her only dimly as a huddled, hunched figure seated alone in the coach.

The voyage itself was a joy—fair winds, gentle seas, good company at the Captain's table, I could not have wished for more—that combined with the anticipated joy of once more holding you in my arms, and this time for good and ever.

That, of course, was not to be. I arrived in New York, made sure I was not being followed, and took a coach, under an assumed name, for Boston. Foolishly, I made plans for our future on the way: I would first see that you were well set up in good lodging, and I would then seek gainful employment before presuming to ask you to wed. After all, how could I ask you to enter such a state without being in a position to keep and care for you in at least a modest manner? I planned first to see if the American Navy had any use for junior lieutenants, and failing that, I would seek a berth on a merchantman.

Arriving in Boston, full of hope, I looked up your attorney, Mr. Pickering, to ascertain your whereabouts, and received the devastating news. Mr. Pickering was most soothing and kind and immediately put me in touch with your man Higgins. I cannot tell you, Jacky, what an invaluable man Higgins is—he put my storming mind to some rest with his calm, concise, and careful telling of the events and his solid suspicions that the disappearance of the girls of the Lawson Peabody was an abduction and not a simple seaborne tragedy. He reported that he had written to me of these happenings, but I did not receive his letter, having already sailed.

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